The Jets really shored up their defense in a day. The run defense looks great and the question marks in the secondary have been answered (assuming Leonhard is signed today). The only weakness not addressed is the most important part of a defense - the pass rush. Unfortunately, a pass rusher is very difficult to find. I am hoping that Ryan will find a way to "scheme" his way to the QB with the current personnel or find the player in Gholston. Either way, the upgrades to the secondary won't matter if there is no pressure on the QB.
A defensive end that can open up holes wouldnt hurt. I guess thats what Coleman does but IDK about him. A guy I would love to get would be BJ Raji but I doubt he will be available when the Jets pick. There are some other 3-4 DE's in this draft we should look at though.
I expect a lot more pressure up the middle with a one gap D and not playing dime packages in every third and long situation. It's tough to get a pass rush when you're rushing 3 or 4 on every passing down.
LBs are the Pass Rush. I think we've addressed that. You're not going to get a pass rushing DE for the 3-4. Need some depth on the D-Line and LB, but that's about it on Defense, if we're going to go ahead with Gholston.
Speaking as a fan of the best 3-4 D in football..you get your pass rush from your linebackers. That's why upgrading your LB corps with Bart Scott will eventually improve your pass rush. Getting guys to cover downfield helps too..and now you got Sheppard opposite Revis. If Sheppard pans out you will see improvement.
A pass rush? Brilliant on your part, if I must say so myself, which apparently I must. The Jets, at the end of the season, ended up 7th in the league with 41 sacks (though when I went game by game, I twice came up with the number 40). In the second half of the season, the Jets only had 12 sacks. If you remember the second half of the season, then you will remember the soft zones and lack of blitzing. You'll remember the Seahawks game where even when they did blitz, all of the pass rushers were staying in their lanes in a weak attempt at keeping Seneca Wallace from scrambling. Now take Barton, who isn't good at pass rushing, and replace him with Scott, who is decent at it. You know the secondary is going to be upgraded whether it is Sheppard or a rookie, as well as Leonhard coming in at safety. You can probably expect a new defensive lineman in the draft as well. That and the soft zones and non-aggression will be stopping. The Jets, even with Mangini's giant fuckup, were one of the best teams at rushing the passer last season, and even without upgrades, having a whole season of rushing the passer as opposed to basically 3/4 of it will make things a hell of a lot easier. Now STAFOO. BJ Raji is 6'1". The only 6'1" 3-4 DE I know is Luis Castillo, and he's basically just shooting a gap on every play. The height really hurts you when your job is to take up blockers, though this is Ryan's scheme, so things may be different - I'm not completely familiar with his play calling.
Vernon Gholston really could be the difference between this defense being above average or phenominal. Here's to hoping Rex salvages him.
I agree, the pass rush will heavily depend on Gholston's progression. Pace is above average, and Thomas is largely average, but Gholston has the ability to be a special player in this league that can change games and make the defense domiante
The Jets were in the top third of the league in sacks. And they have the 6th overall pick from last season developing (hopefully) at OLB. Given that resources are limited, they would be absolutely foolish to worry about sack artists right now.
I don't know if it's that simple. We don't have a pure edge rusher. I think as our defense stands now, throw in maybe Leonhard and Ivy, and we'll be good regardless, but I'd love some tweener DE/OLB pass rusher in a late round who can get to the QB and get there fast. Or for Gholston to play wll.
I think Ryans schemes will do wonders for our pass rush. If you read the snippet of him talking about Scott and Harris both being able to play the Mike LB and how he thinks that will really confuse offenses and think about how he wants to be an aggressive defense it stands to reason that he thinks he can create a lot of pressure. Someone posted a clip of Bart Scott sacking Rothlisberger yesterday. Scott destroyed him because he was completely unblocked. The scheme allowed that to happen, there was nothing special Scott did on the play. He had a free rush to Rothlisbergers blind side. I see Ryan doing the same here especially now that he has the ability to create mass confusion with the Mike backer. Here's the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHIXQzY-TEw It looks like Scott shifted outside after the center made his line calls leaving him unblocked. I hope to see a lot of this kind of thing in '09.
In order for 3-4 defense to generate pass rush, it's rather imperative that at least one of the DEs draw a double coverage. If both DEs draw double coverage, all the better - as that usually means TE or RB out of the play, trying to block, but that's luxury. Once that happens, usually ILBs have two free lane to the backfield. After that, it's the pass rush from the outside that will seal the deal. With all due respect, however, I just do not see a double-team drawing DE from current Jet roster - and that's my only concern with this D.
I think the rush was a HUGE part of our downfall last year,but it was in the scemes. i trust Ryan will fix it.
I don't even think that the Jets need to add any more players to have one of the better pass rushes in the league. They did fine pressuring the QB whenever the coaches actually called a freaking blitz, and I somehow don't think that's going to be a big problem with Rex Ryan running the show. Pace, Scott, Rhodes--these guys are playmakers. They just need a coach who will let them make plays. The only piece I really want added to this defense (aside from some depth) is a good backup for Kris Jenkins so he doesn't burn out down the stretch again.
